Eye color. Did you know that the color of your eyes is completely influenced by your genetic inheritance? Explain the connections.

Eye Color

Eye color is a polygenic phenotypic character determined by two distinct factors: the pigmentation of the eye's iris and the frequency-dependence of the scattering of light by the turbid medium in the stroma of the iris.

The beauty of the eyes lies in its color. An individual's eye color results from pigmentation of a structure called the iris, which surrounds the small black hole in the center that helps to control the amount of light, enter the eye.  The eye color is a polygenic phenotypic character.  In humans this color varies from light brown to black, depending on the concentration of melanin pigment in the iris pigment epithelium. Generally, eye color is categorized as blue, green or brown. Brown is the most frequent eye color in the world.

The eye color is basically determined by person's gene. Most of the genes are dramatically associated eye colors that are involved in production, transport or storage of the melanin pigment. The individual with brown eyes have large amount of melanin pigment while blue eyes have less in pigmentation are large in population 

Genetics of eye color

The chromosome 15 plays a significant role in eye color and two genes which located together: OCA2 and HERC2 are actively participating in this work. OCA2 gene translates to give P protein that involved in the maturation of melanosomes, which are cellular structures that produce and store melanin. It plays crucial role in the amount and quality of melanin that present in the iris. The region in between gene HERC2 known as intron 86 that contain the segment of DNA which controls the expression of the OCA@ gene. It regulate the turning it on or off as needed.

In spite of these two genes many other genes are also play smaller role in determining eye color. The genes with their reported roles in eyes color are ASIP, IRF4, SLC24A4, SLC24A5, TPCNS, TYR and TYRP1. These all genes are directly- indirectly work combines with OCA2 and HER2.